Soccer here is well and good

Posted Jun 27, 2010 by Tom McEwen

Updated Jun 27, 2010 at 09:19 PM

It looked like American soccer was going to grow to worldwide size and strength. The U.S. had adopted the sport as one of its favorites, notably including the great Tampa Bay area within its new boundaries, and the revised Rowdies, with new support involving impresarios such as David Laxer, Tom Dempsey and partners had embarked on this expanded adventure.

But the Americans at the World Cup hit a wall and lost to little Ghana. What was hoped to be the last giant step forward became a giant step backwards. This revised soccer spurt suddenly went sour on Saturday.

Very few in soccer thought Ghana could pull such an upset as beating America in the World Cup. Ghana is a country the size of Oregon while the USA ... well, is the size of USA.

America could not lose to Ghana. America would beat Ghana to move on to the next round and face Germany, most thought. But Ghana deserves all of the credit for this massive victory and the USA deserves all of the shame for this giant step backwards.

These untrained eyes thought only midfielder Landon Donovan, Clint Dempsey and goaltender Tim Howard played as well as they could. Otherwise, the Americans played as if they were in a trance. They lost to defense and sudden streaks of brilliance on the part of the Ghanaians. Frankly, many of us felt the American team gave a far less than competitive effort.

It will go down as one of the great international losses of an American sporting team under a pivotal circumstance. Put simply, the Americans played lousy and got what they deserved.

I think we can expect Coach Bob Bradley to be relieved along with most of the players, as they should be. It was as if the United States lost to Hillsborough County, or worse. Accountability is necessary now, after this step backwards. The problem here is that you are starting over and for the next four years this taste of defeat will be in our mouths, the taste of victory in the mouths of those from Ghana. The Americans started slowly, sped up briefly to force a tie for a time, but then gave way to runaway Ghana players. 

This was a bum effort at a key time on an international stage. I can’t repeat enough how this defeat reflects on this country and those who put this effort together. It was a perfect setting for America to present its best side at this top-drawer event. But the Americans fell flat.

Lack of leadership is where this debacle began and where it ended and we did not mention the fact that this loss was seen by a record number of people because of the international telecast. At Landon Donovan’s post game interview, he stumbled around trying to explain it and finally declared that the only thing to say was that on this pitch, this day “sucked.”

He said that was the only possible description of America’s dismaying result before a record crowd on television. Back home, the effect of this terrible misadventure puts this sport that was making such strides, notably hereabouts. Those overseeing the return of the Rowdies, for instance, deserve all the credit for sticking behind and keeping it in the sports forefront in this revitalized progression of soccer, which looks like now, is going to work.

All of us around here want this to happen and for this Kick in the Grass Rowdies team to remain among us and stand out on the national and international stage. This soccer business has withstood all manner of setbacks and now has another to overcome, the pitiful effort of the USA team this weekend.

But the Rowdies’ history has established the sustaining power and determination of those involved in soccer here and who won’t be deterred long in this regrettable disappointment of Coach Bradley’s team in Rustenburg, South Africa. The hope here is the Rowdies will overcome these latest major disappointments and kick more in the grass. Hope so - we need the Rowdies on our sports marquee.